Unchained Emporium

I’m sorry my posts stopped suddenly! A rainstorm passed through and caused the internet connection to go out completely for a few days. I don’t know if I’ll post anything tomorrow or the next day. It will depend on the strength of the signal, I suppose. But I did want to wish all my fellow Americans a wonderful, safe, and happy Thanksgiving! If anyone outside the USA also celebrates Thanksgiving, I wish you the same…a wonderful, safe, and happy holiday!

I chose to share this photo with you today because the colors seemed most appropriate for the occasion. (So far, I’ve taken and edited four photos and drawn four artworks in ink!) I made a pair of not-quite-matched earrings. I wore them as an added decoration for my steampunk first mate garb. You can see the complete pair in the smaller fractal bubbles but not in the middle. I was practicing some more with the fractal tool that comes in Gimp. I’m not displeased with the result. I had taken this picture before the costume was even completed but didn’t have an idea of how to edit it until our Thanksgiving break. I’m glad I can share it with you today!

“More Metal Please” – photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about this photo or check into downloading a digital copy for personal use only, click the photo to go to my deviantART page.

“Night Magic” – digital art created in Gimp – This is a practice in light and shadow, as well as reflection. For more info, or to download a copy for personal use only, or to purchase a print (photo print/art print/canvas print), click the photo to go to my deviantART page.

A photo-manipulation experiment in Gimp… Please click the photo for more information. You’ll be taken to my deviantART page where you can download a copy for personal use only or purchase a print. I don’t know if I mentioned it or not but you can purchase inexpensive photo prints, nicer art prints that cost a little more, or canvas prints which are a little more still. For those who may be concerned with the state of my coffee mug, I add cinnamon and ginger to my coffee in the mornings to help with my breathing and sinuses. It really does help!

“A Fresh Start” -photo by me – Y’all had to know coffee would be a major part of my fresh start. 🙂

About 3 days ago, before the steampunk costumes were completed, I had an idea pop into my head for an abstract drawing. No colors really came to mind but I wanted to use curved and straight lines to form what I hoped would be an interesting art piece. This is the result of my efforts. I think it would translate well to graffiti but, alas! I haven’t got the spray paint, nor is that product in my budget at this time. This is mixed media art done in Sharpie marker, pencil, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, and Bic permanent color markers. I’ve always enjoyed making these kinds of odd shapes and then adding in little details. I hope you enjoy the piece! Also, if you’d like to be among the first to see my work, then do check out my deviantART page. I have started using it to post my work first, since they offer the creative commons license as you upload each piece. I left the icon in my sidebar because it allows people know my work is my own and asking permission before use is necessary. Without further ado, here is my piece for yesterday’s challenge. I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback on it yet. I guess we’ll see how that goes in the future.

“Dusk” – mixed media artwork by me – Please click the photo to go to my deviantART page to read more about it.

Here’s the photo of my completed Steampunk First Mate’s costume. I edited the photo in Gimp. It took me at least 1.5 hours to do that. Maybe that’s because I’m a beginner. I don’t know. Maybe I’m too much of a perfectionist and couldn’t stand all the non-blurry spots that were supposed to be blurry and the blurry spots that were supposed to be crisp. I hope you enjoy the photo! Click on it to read all the specs on my deviantART page.

“Steampunk First Mate” – photo by me – Click the photo to go to my deviantART page and read more about the construction.

And here’s a photo of John and me together. I’m still wearing my cape in this one and you can’t really see my costume very well but John’s is quite visible. He created the shoulder ropes we added to the top of his jacket. And we added a couple of the new medals and a new patch.

“Steampunk Captain and First Mate” – photo taken by a kind vendor at the Steampunk and Maker’s Fair (Danielle Ducrest, if I’m not mistaken! Please click here to check out her website. My favorites are the bobbin necklaces!) with my cell. I edited it in Gimp. If you click, the photo, you’ll be taken to the first mate photo. DA seems to be having technical difficulties tonight but there are people asking for this photo, too, and I hate to disappoint. I’ll hopefully be able to upload the photo to DA tomorrow.

OK…so it’s a cheesy title, but it’s true. The Steampunk and Makers Fair, taking place in Lafayette, LA tomorrow, is a nifty event that many people in the city get involved in. There are actually a few educational activities to attend, two kinds of dancing to watch, live music, vendors and more! I don’t know how long we’ll get to stay but it would be interesting if we could stay for the costume contest. There’s also a car show going on tomorrow and we’d like to take a gander at the spread there, too. I’m not sure what would be more interesting. Staying for the costume contest? Or perusing classic cars in Steampunk garb? Either option is sure to be pretty interesting. Here’s a photo of the medals I created for this go round. I’ll explain this one because I’m fairly certain no one has clicked through to my deviantART account yet and these need a bit of explanation.

“Steampunk Military Medals Round 2” – photo by Melody Kittles – These are Upper left to Upper Right, Lower Left To Lower Right, and then left to right for the singles: Two Rank Patches, 2 medallion key medals, one phoenix medal, and one dirigible service medal. Clicking the photo will take you to my deviantART page.

The two rank patches at the upper left were created using Ansteorran Star ribbon I purchased while we were still active in the Society for Creative Anachronism. The metal bits on each are two gear findings each, one nifty bead separator each, one red brad for the Captain, and one white brad for the First Mate. The medallion key medals are back with red/white striped grosgrain ribbon. I haven’t finished the story on these yet. The phoenix medal doesn’t have a story either. My dirigible service medal is different from the Captain’s because I haven’t been in the dirigible service quite as along. I hope you enjoy the photo. I’ll be sure to post photos of the updated costumes after tomorrow’s event.

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Unchained Emporium

I love to create and learn and I dabble in almost anything creative. My favorite medium is chainmail, with which I make unique jewelry items. I enjoy seeing the beauty in this world around me, and often times, in many places where others may fear or scorn to look. I'm trying my hand at mixed media art now and I enjoy working with acrylics, pastels, and ink. I have an Etsy shop where I sell a few of my and my family's creations. I also dabble in snapshot photography, using my cell and either Gimp or the Pixlr-O-Matic or Pixlr Express apps to edit them. I'll be blogging about my creations and the people, places, and things that inspire me.

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Just In Case You Wondered What I Look Like ~ If you click here, you'll go to my deviantART page.

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I offer a few of them as free downloads on my deviantART page. You can check out my gallery here: http://pianolady32.deviantart.com/gallery/ Be sure to check the copyright notice on each one of them to make sure you stay within the rules of usage.

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My artworks and photographs and any other media I create and share here, belong to me: Melody Kittles, owner of Unchained Emporium. Reproduction without permission shall be considered copyright infringement. Each of my pieces is posted on DeviantArt where the copyright notices are also listed. Please do read the copyright notice to be sure you stay within the usage rules. It will look similar to the notice you see below.